Category: Banks
The celebrity-backed green “Fintech” company that isn’t as green as it seems
Aspiration is among a group of companies that provide banking and financial services, and promise to help the environment. But so far its marketing is greener than its reality. by Carson Kessler November 17, 2021 You…
As economic suffering grips regular Americans, Wall Street behemoths ready feast of stock buybacks
“We’re going to be aggressively buying back, and consistently,” said Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman. by Andrea Germanos, staff writer Friday, January 22, 2021 For millions of regular Americans, the end of 2020 was marked…
The SEC Undermined a Powerful Weapon Against White-Collar Crime
Now the lawyer who wrote the rules that gave Wall Street insiders a big financial incentive to report crimes to the SEC is suing the government for changing them. by Lydia DePillis Thursday, January 14, 2021…
A lender sued thousands of lower-income Latinos during the pandemic. Now it wants to be a National Bank.
Oportun, which lends in only a dozen states, applied for a bank charter late last year. Consumer and Latino civil rights groups are pushing back, citing the findings of a joint investigation by ProPublica and The…
JPMorgan Chase Bank wrongly charged 170,000 customers overdraft fees. Federal regulators refused to penalize it.
Documents and records show that bank examiners have avoided penalizing at least six banks that incorrectly charged overdraft and related fees to hundreds of thousands of customers. by Patrick Rucker, The Capitol Forum Monday, December 14,…
Rathke: Pulling CRA’s teeth when it needs to bite harder
New Orleans Dine’ Butler and I had just finished our presentation about the impact of predatory land installment contracts and hedge funds in the Memphis real estate market at the Hooks Institute event at the University…
Rathke: Have Doctors and Hospitals Joined Banks as Fraudsters?
New York City It’s the holiday season when old time movies used to give us hope that miracles might happen. Santa might climb down from the chimney, if you had a chimney anymore. There were…
Rathke: Figuring out which companies are naughty or nice
Quebec City Even as the Brexit landslide seemed to be building in the formerly United Kingdom, the European Union leadership was piecing together an ambitious plan to achieve climate goals by 2050. Their plan was to…
‘Bankrolling Extinction’: Report shows big banks lent over $2.6 trillion to fund global biodiversity destruction in just one year, 2019
“Imagine a world in which projects can only raise capital when they have demonstrated that they will contribute meaningfully and positively to restoring the planet’s bounty and a safe climate for all. That’s the future this…
Why is Bank of America still open to funding the destruction of our homelands in the Arctic?
We stand together, the Iñupiat and the Gwich’in, in calling on Bank of America to listen to Indigenous people, protect our homelands, and stay out of the Arctic Refuge. by Bernadette Demientieff, Siqiñiq Maupin Monday, September…
Defund or defend? In the fight over fossil fuel investments, who’s winning?
Despite divestment victories, big banks and asset managers continue driving climate change through their lending practices. by Christine MacDonald Monday, September 21 “CalSTRS is using our teachers’ money to invest in the destruction of our own…
Sanders and Gillibrand unveil Postal Banking Act: to provide public alternative to ‘predatory’ Wall Street banks
The new legislation, according to Sanders’ office, would help “families generate savings, wealth, and credit, while bringing millions of American workers into a more fair banking system.” by Jake Johnson, staff writer Thursday, September 17 With…
Microfinance is now a mega-mess
by Wade Rathke New Orleans A little less than a decade ago, in mid-2011, ACORN International stirred up a bit of a hornets’ nest by opposing the international development consensus in a series of reports we…
Trump Financial Regulator Quietly Shelved Discrimination Probes Into Bank of America and Other Lenders
At least six investigations into discriminatory mortgage loan “redlining” have been halted or stalled — against staff recommendations — under the Trump administration’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. by Patrick Rucker, The Capitol Forum…
California bill to establish Nation’s second Public Bank applauded as ‘Historic challenge to Wall Street domination’
“If California is serious about addressing racial and income inequities, we must create a banking system that centers people not profits.” by Jake Johnson, staff writer Friday, July 10 In a move advocacy groups celebrated as…
Capital One and other debt collectors are still coming for millions of Americans
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Americans got protection from evictions, foreclosures and student debt. But debt collectors have continued to siphon off their share of paychecks from those who still have jobs. by Paul Kiel and…
In the Fight to Curtail the Climate Crisis, the Earth Just Moved a Little
Nearly half of Chase’s owners have demanded to know how the bank plans to align its business model with the Paris Agreement. On the surface, that probably doesn’t sound like an earthquake. But it’s quietly seismic….
Whistleblower: Wall Street has engaged in widespread manipulation of mortgage funds
Securities that contain loans for properties like hotels and office buildings have inflated profits, the whistleblower claims. As the pandemic hammers the economy, that could increase the chances of another mortgage collapse. by Heather Vogell Friday,…
Coronavirus put her out of work, then debt collectors Froze her savings account
Kim Boatswain’s tax refund could have helped her get through the coronavirus slowdown. But debt collectors seized it. There are few options for Texans like Boatswain whose money was taken just before the state temporarily banned…
Ilhan Omar bill would cancel all rent and mortgage payments for duration of Covid-19 crisis
“In 2008, we bailed out Wall Street. This time, it’s time to bail out the American people who are suffering.” by Jake Johnson, staff writer Rep. Ilhan Omar on Friday unveiled legislation aimed at providing relief…
Big banks move to buy up fracking industry assets with coronavirus bailout funds
Critics Decry ‘Massive Step in Wrong Direction’ JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citi “Taxpayers shouldn’t be required to backstop oil and gas companies that were already in trouble prior to the…
From the while we were looking elsewhere department: New report takes aim at five banking institutions backing Amazon Rainforest exploitation
while we were looking elsewhere… Five of the world’s most powerful financial institutions are actively contributing to climate change by providing debt and equity financing for crude oil extraction projects in the Amazon. by Eoin…
The Billionaire and Right-Wing’s racist lies about Redlining
New Orleans With the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency leading the way to gut the Community Reinvestment Act along with some other federal regulators, the last thing we should be doing is having to…
How credit cards make us more unequal
Credit card companies fleece retailers to give high-end spenders cash back — a system the rest of us end up subsidizing. By Sam Pizzigati | February 10, 2020 What happens when we use our credit cards?…
